Friday, March 06, 2009

Maybe if she dropped a few Vasgersianistic F-Bombs...things might be different.

A month or so ago, I posted an article on Jeanne Zelasko wanting the Dodgers road play-by-play gig. Well today, the LA Daily News is reporting that not only is she not getting the job, she wasn’t even a finalist for a tryout….

Former Fox MLB studio host Jeanne Zelasko was inexcusably left out of the group of six broadcasters who the Dodgers invited to a play-by-play tryout during March, their attempt to find someone for a package of 40 TV road games. A forward- thinking organization couldn’t figure out that by including her in the mix, they’d elicit some positive reaction? Listening to a couple of games this week showcase 28-year-old Ben Wagner, a poor man’s Matt Vasgersian currently with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, any recognizable voice in the So Cal market who missed this cut must really reassess his or her future. What are the Dodgers trying to achieve here, if not a search to replace Vin Scully someday?

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That said, I think she was denied a Dodgers tryout because her fastball couldn't get a speeding ticket on the five.

To be fair, this is hard (at least in the Central Valley portion of it.) I have a friend who routinely makes the 400 mile drive from SF to LA in 4.5 hours. He's gotten one speeding ticket in like 20 trips.

To be fair, this is hard (at least in the Central Valley portion of it.) I have a friend who routinely makes the 400 mile drive from SF to LA in 4.5 hours. He's gotten one speeding ticket in like 20 trips.

(low whistle) Really? If he's taking the 101, how does he get through King City unscathed?
EDIT: Ah, I skipped over the Central Valley mention.

And I thought it impressive to do Miami-Orlando (235 miles or so) in 3 hours flat, including a gas stop.

This guy is probably the best driver I know. He drives really fast, but you never get the sense that he's doing anything unsafe, and his cop scanning is impeccable. He'd be a perfect getaway driver, really.

What are the Dodgers trying to achieve here, if not a search to replace Vin Scully someday?

What does that have to do with Jeanne Zelasko? Nobody who has seen her on television could honestly think she is going to be good enough to replace Scully. Some random but talented kid is more likely to do so - in fact, that's how the Dodgers got Scully in the first place - came out of nowhere, had talent, grew into the job. If the Dodgers are convinced from the sample tapes, seeing her on tv, etc that Jeanne isn't going to be one of the top 6, why should they waste time giving her sample air time?

Zelasko's horrible and anybody lobbing the charge of sexism is doing women broadcasters an injustice. It's still nigh on impossible to be a woman and work in sports broadcasting doing male pro sports, and the last thing people should do is promote unqualified people to the job.

Zelasko's horrible and anybody lobbing the charge of sexism is doing women broadcasters an injustice. It's still nigh on impossible to be a woman and work in sports broadcasting doing male pro sports, and the last thing people should do is promote unqualified people to the job.

She's not exactly qualified to cover the Dodgers, but over the past couple years I've been impresed with Cassie Campbell's adequacy on HNIC.